This Orlando bashing is getting ridiculous... (Miami, Tampa: real estate, hotels, vacation)

[molliejohns]

Is it just me or is there entirely way too much Orlando bashing on the Orlando message boards? The sad part is that most of those who are doing this don't even live in Orlando and/or have never been here and are basing their opinions on nothing more than what they think or have heard about Orlando. I live in Orlando and have lived here for 21 years-I'm not a transient, I didn't come here for school, I'm not retired, I didn't come here for a job...I was born in Orlando and have lived here my whole life and although its nice to get away from the heat and visit elsewhere every once in a while, I love Orlando and always love coming home here. So, I have decided to make a list of everything I love about Orlando. If you live here or vacation here or just love Orlando as much as I do, please feel free to add your own comments. If you are one of those individuals who have nothing positive to say about Orlando...well, you know where you can go

1. Disney World, Universal Studios, and Sea World
Not everyone loves these theme parks, but I do. Even if you don't like rides, many of the shows are great, especially 'The Festival of the Lion King' at Animal Kingdom, and its always fun to just wander around, especially at the parks like Animal Kingdom and Sea World and watch all of the beautiful animals. The best time to go is in October, after all the summer vacationers have left but before the winter vacationers arrive. The parks are pretty empty and the weather is usually quite pleasent.

2. Orlando might not have four distinct seasons but we do have something many states don't have-year round green foliage. We don't have snow, and many consider this to be a good thing, including myself. And, contrary to popular belief, it is not blazing hot year round. It gets pretty bad from about May to early October, and from late October to April it can range from cool, breezy, and pleasent, to downright, 30 to 40 degrees cold. We do have a spring and we do have a fall; spring is hard to distinguish because we have beautiful flowers year round but fall is evident as many leaves do lose their leaves and the air loses some of its humidity and can even become a little crisp. Spring and fall are further marked by, of course, two Disney World events: the Flower and Garden Festival in the spring and the Food and Wine festival in the fall at the Epcot park, both of which are amazing. The Food and Wine Festival is especially great; each "country" in Epcot showcases the best food and wine and everything always tastes great. The holiday season in December is also marked with two events at Disney: each country in Epcot showcases their distinct holiday celebrations and then there is the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights in MGM Studios [I know, it's called Hollywood Studios now but it will always be MGM to me!] where part of the park is COMPLETELY covered with lights which "dance," or flash in sync with holiday music multiple times a night. And, of course, summer is easily distinguished: HOT weather, LOTS of rain, and PLENTY of vacationers. Rain is not reserved solely for summer, though, which leads me to another of my Orlando favorites...

3. The rain
Some people don't like rain. I, on the other hand, love it. Rain is responsible for the beautiful, year-round foliage and all the tropical plants we have here. Besides the tropical palm trees, hibiscus, and plumeria, we also have great populations of more typical, southern plants and trees supported by the rain, including oaks, weeping willows, pine trees, and orange trees.

4. Lakes, swamps, springs
I love spending the day at one of the many lakes or springs here in Orlando, shaded by weeping willows or other trees and watching all the different birds, ducks, geese, and sometimes even alligators. We have tons of lakes and lots and lots of state and local parks with lakes and springs to either swim in or observe wildlife, like hawks, owls, alligators, deer, turtles, otters, vand the beautiful but endangered manatees. We Floridians are proud to be the only state supporting manatee habitats; though they are endangered and intensely protected, there are parks where you can take canoes out and see them relaxing in springs or even swim with them and touch them as long as they are the ones to swim past you. Swamps and marshes may not be your cup of tea, but they are beautiful, especially the expansive Everglades.

5. The beach-45 minutes to the east, less than two hours to the west
The beaches here are great-those to the east are closer but not as nice as those on the gulf coast, in my opinion. There is one particular beach on the west coast, near Tampa, called Pass-a-Grille and I have found the coolest shells there, including star fish, sand dollars, big conch shells, spirals, as well as shark teeth. There is also more wildlife to see on the west coast, from stingrays [fun to see, not fun to step on-don't underestimate the importance of the Stingray Shuffle!] dolphins, smaller sharks, and sea turtles.

6. Great cities, including St. Augustine and Key West
St. Augustine is very old and full of historic and natural beauty. Key West is also a representation of old Florida, with historic homes and architecture, like the Hemingway House, but is also a great city with a lot of fun. The restaurants serve great Floribbean cuisine and nothing beats the Key Lime pie and margaritas served down there!

7. The people
Orlando has a wonderful mixture of people from all walks of life. There are families, wealthy business people, retired couples or singles, transients, young students, yuppies, "trustafarians," immigrants, and native Orlandoans. There are strong populations of those who have traveled from many different countries, especially South America and the Caribbean, which adds to the culture of Orlando. There is also a strong gay and lesbian population. Yes, many people living here don't speak english but if you ask me, that only adds to the diversity of the city and the state in whole. There are also many young students from all over the world, from Africa, Asia, and many European companies that live here and work at Disney on study abroad programs.

8. The diversity of the city itself
You have downtown Orlando, with its many different little shops and eateries, and Lake Eola, a park enjoyed by both the wealthy from the nearby Thornton Park and the homeless that really don't bother park goers all too much. You have Windermere and Dr. Phillips, mostly populated with middle to upper class families. The areas are beautiful and clean, even if the residents always aren't . East Orlando is populated mainly by students of UCF has many different locales, catering mostly on the needs of the college folks, which is restaurants, bars, and entertainment stores. Winter Park has maintained a lot of its old Florida charm, with older buildings and huge, old oak trees, both covered in vines. The people here consist of students from Rollins College and those wealthy enough to live in Winter Park. Park Avenue is the main street through the shopping and eating district of Winter Park. It is not too big and you can spend an afternoon walking down the sidewalks of Park Avenue, shaded either by awnings or the huge trees across the street in the park and old train station. My favorite store here is Synnergy where you can find a lot of great Life is Good merchandise and Bullfish, which sells dog supplies and art as well as organic clothing and merchandise and wine. Lake Buena Vista and I-Drive are the major tourist locales, where most of the theme parks and hotels are located. Near Disney World is Downtown Disney which is a great place to eat and shop, for both locals and vacationers alike, with the Rainforest Cafe, Virgin Megastore, a movie theater, and many Disney merchandise stores and dance clubs. There is also City Walk, Universal's version of Downtown Disney, also with great restaurants and places to shop, including Fossil, Margaritaville, Pastamore, a movie theater, as well as many bars and clubs like Bob Marley's and Pat O'Briens. Emeril Lagasse also has two restaurants at City Walk-Emeril's Tchoup Chop at the Royal Pacific Hotel, an absolutely beautiful resort at Universal [as well as the Hard Rock Resort and the Portofino] and Emeril's Orlando actually inside of City Walk. Emeril's is a little pricey but its absolutely worth it and I'm not just saying this because my significant other is a chef there The newest addition is a Hart and Huntingon tattoo place. Many people who visit Orlando don't venture far from Lake Buena Vista or the I-Drive area and see only the tourist parts of town which are fun but do not define Orlando. You have to travel outside of this area, to downtown Orlando or Winter Park to really get the cultural feel of this city beyond theme parks and hotels.

I hope I have opened a couple people's eyes to the beauty of Orlando, beyond what you see on vacation here or in a travel magazine. The theme parks are great and I love visiting them but I love Orlando for more than that, for its natural beauty, wildlife, diversity, people, and areas. Feel free to add your [positive!] comments or additions to what you love about Orlando!

[cfIfan]

As i have said on many many occassions there are good and bad in all cities and Orlando is no exception. I am a realtor in the area and from the UK originally, my wife is from Tennassee and we love it here. Orlando offers a lifestyle which we love and has so many things to do. For us, we can think of no better place to raise our 7 yr old daughter, and i am fortunate enough to be very well travelled outside the US and my wife very well travelled within the US. People on these boards paint Orlando in an unfair and biased light, and in my opinion the only saving grace is that ther are some moderators like Keeper who understand and state this to people in various threads to try to give a balanced view.

[Alphaman]

This is supposed to be a positive thread why not pick a thread that already is neagative and post in that, give this poster the type of imput they were asking for.

[Wilshire81182]

I could not agree with the first poster more. A lot of people magnify the negative aspects of life here. I think Orlando is beautiful for all the reasons that you listed and really love it. If you dwell on the negative that is what you will see, but I feel like I moved to a paradise and continue to love almost everything about it here. Most of my friends who come visit have been impressed. I have met great people here. I see weeping willows all over town. I love all the day excursions within a few hours of Orlando in any direction. I could live the rest of my life without ever seeing snow or fall leaves again, but that is because I lived in Washington state and saw plenty of that. I think our rain is totally different than most other areas in the country; I love it's torrential nature LOL. The more I live here the more things I discover and enjoy.

[Keeper]

You will find some posters who either hate or love a city/state on any CD forum. Whether you love it or hate it, you are entitled to your opinion as long as it follows the ToS.

I would hope that anyone moving or vacationing in an area would consider all comments good and bad but not rely solely on one person's comment. If all of your posts are only positive or are only negative then I would probably discount your opinion as biased. That is just the way I look at things but others may or may not feel that way which is their right.

There is good and bad no matter where you live.

[Wilshire81182]

Yeah I agree that if you visit most forums, people have plenty to complain about their areas so it it not uniqie to Orlando by any means. I read Portland, Seattle, Miami, El Paso, Orlando, Tampa, Spokane, Southern California, and the General US frequently and notice a lot of positive and negative posts. Some of the most positive posts are in the least nicest area that I read on (El Paso) so sometimes I tend to feel that Floridians are just spoiled.

[cfIfan]

Originally Posted by **NoodLes**

If you go to other city forums you don't see as many people bashing their city, so there's got to be the truth just how bad Orlando is. Sure, some people will like it, especially if they are new, but I lived there for more than a decade, saw the city go down the toilet, and moved. I couldn't wait to get the heck outta there. The jobs are terrible, you get no recognition for excellent work, the traffic is horrible, etc.... I could go on and on. If you enjoy it than that's fine with me, but you should also respect the people who don't like Orlando, i.e: all my friends. Most of the people who criticize Orlando have way more experiences and knowledge of the city than you think.

I think the point the op was making that some of these complaints are blown out of all proprtion. Come on silence doogood, its like living in a landfill. If that is not ridiculous i dont know what is. Yes there is good and bad everywhere, but many here concentrate on the negative and blow it out of all proprtion. I think it was gregtraub who made a good point in another thread when someone was complaining about well paying jobs not being here in Florida. there are plenty of large companies here that do pay well. If you dropped out of high school, dont expect to get a job as CEO of a major corp. Its the same everywhere. One lady posted how her son graduated from UCF and has just started work starting out at $60,000 here in Orlando, so how is it there are no good paying jobs. Im sorry if your not appreciated in your current job, but there is an easy solution, find another one. You can tell the people who are 'the glass is half full' as opposed to ' the glass is half empty'.

[BeenAroundTheBlock]

And as long as readers understand this forum is comprised of a handful of people with opposing views and that it doesn't represent the general population, all is well...

[msaRick]

Originally Posted by BeenAroundTheBlock

And as long as readers understand this forum is comprised of a handful of people with opposing views and that it doesn't represent the general population, all is well...

I agree. It seems to be the same people over and over bashing Orlando. There are some constructive critiques to be made, but some if it is way over the top; almost as if people are personally mad at the City of Orlando and are trying to coax it into a fight outback.

[Wilshire81182]

I have sometimes thought that too. All the unemployed real estate agents or developers are on here to try to personally ruin Orlando like that is even possible. Every city in America right now probably has their own Lou Perlman's or Cameron Kuhn's.